Halep marches on at Flushing Meadows
Second seed Simona Halep eased through to the third round of the US Open with a straight-sets win over Kateryna Bondarenko.
Simona Halep continued her run at the US Open with a 6-3 6-4 victory against Kateryna Bondarenko.
The second seed, who was 6-2 3-0 up against Marina Erakovic in the first round when her opponent retired injured, proved too strong for the Ukrainian in the first meeting between the pair.
Halep is now just one win away from equalling her best performance at Flushing Meadows, the world number two having made the fourth round in 2013.
With three singles titles under her belt this year, Halep had the confidence to take the game to Bondarenko, who is ranked 104.
Indeed, she broke to love in the first game, but Bondarenko did show some resolve, levelling matters at 2-2, only to drop serve immediately afterwards.
A mammoth ninth game proved decisive as Halep sealed the set.
Halep needed a solitary break in the second set, which came when Bondarenko was serving to stay in the match.